understanding people
Different people see the world from different perspectives. In our society, there will always be misunderstandings between people and those people's reactions will differ. Some choose to mope, groan, and even get angry about the way that themselves or others are treated while some decide to try and do something about it. Still, there are others who think to themselves that maybe the best way to deal with the issues among people is to try and comprehend what they mean and just live by them. As Benedict Spinoza put it, "I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them." Authors now try to understand actions that people make instead of ridiculing them. The following explains these authors and how they have been able to identify with others. "Under the Influence" is an essay written by Scott Russell Sanders. In this writing he tells how he grew up with an alcoholic as a father. His life was not at all easy. He had to deal with issues that young children should not have to deal with. In this essay he makes the reader understand what an alcoholic is and how the actions of one person who has this disease can affect himself and so many other people. Sanders does this
by explaining the horror that he and his family had to go through during the years of his father's problem. The family was never sure whether they would be happy at the sight of the father or horrified by his presence. As a child, Sanders believed that his father's problem was somewhat his fault because he was not a good son. "I tell myself he drinks to ease an ache that gnaws at his belly, an ache I must have caused by disappointing him somehow..." (Sanders 64). As he grows up, the truth comes out and he realizes that his father being an alcoholi! can only be achieved by living according to the dictates of one's own heart" (Ortiz 86). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ y that some people act is not going to change; so he tells himself that the best way to solve this problem is to avoid the certain situations altogether. If he is walking down the road and feels that someone in front of him may feel uncomfortable, he crosses the street. He is showing his strength by being the one who avoids the problem. Sanders knows that the best way to evade uncomfortable situations is to stay away from anything that might initiate them. "I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow- timid, but a survivor" (Sanders 219). The authors above choose not to try and get angry or complain about the actions of other people. They better themselves by simply understanding why people take certain actions. As Albert Einstein once said,
Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, Russell Sanders, Ortiz Cofer, Ortiz's Mama, Einstein Peace, , Benedict Spinoza, Brent Staples, white people, walking road, african americans, try understand, deal issues, able live, people instead, actions people, reader understand, grandmother loved,
Approximate Word count = 1001
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
